Growing the next generation in India

India launches national Young Professionals Programme

By Janice Blondeau

In a first for India, the IEC National Committee of India, hosted by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), launched its national IEC Young Professionals Programme with a workshop held on July 21 2016 at BIS Headquarters, in New Delhi. The workshop was attended by about 60 Young Professionals from electrotechnical industry and governmental bodies, who came from all over India.

Encourage active participation

P.M. Pantulu, Deputy Director General (Standardization) of BIS shared that the IEC National Committee of India has introduced the Indian IEC Young Professionals Programme to help young professionals in the industry understand and appreciate the importance of standards. Introducing the participants to the initial concepts of national and international standards will also encourage them to take active interest and participate in standardization work. By doing so they can acquire knowledge of global trends within industry and better understand market development in different parts of the world.

And to strengthen the case, copies of the IEC publication on How companies benefit from active participation were distributed to all participants. The publication is a compilation of case studies from different companies around the world illustrating the value they gained from their involvement in the IEC.

What are standards?

Starting from basics, J.R. Chowdhury, Head (IR&TISD) of BIS shared on the principles of standards and the benefits of participation.

Introduction to international standards

Dennis Chew, Regional Director of the IEC Asia-Pacific Regional Centre (IEC-APRC) participated as a speaker, guiding the Indian YPs on international standardization in the electrotechnical sector. Chew also covered how to become involved in IEC Technical Committee work and the use of IEC IT tools.

In addition, Vimal Mahendru, IEC Ambassador and Standardization Management Board (SMB) member, presented at the workshop, addressing the topic Experience of participation in IEC at policy level while D. Goswami, Head (ETD) at BIS shared his experience on participation at the technical level.

Breakout group discussions

Tapping on the Young Professionals at the workshop, a breakout group discussed on how to develop standards while another group focused on involving more experts in standards development.

Where to next?

In closing, Alka Panda, President of the IEC National Committee of India and Director General of BIS, emphasized the importance of international standards and conformity assessment to trade and encouraged active participation in IEC activities.

Based on the success of this workshop, the IEC National Committee of India intends to continue the engagement by forming an email group for ongoing interaction and also by inviting participants to attend the IEC mirror committees, as the first steps.

Next steps include organizing similar outreach workshops in other cities in India and developing post-workshop follow-up programmes to retain and enhance engagement with the YPs.

Close cooperation with industry

The inaugural Indian IEC Young Professionals Programme workshop was developed in close collaboration with associations such as the Indian Electrical & Electronics Manufacturers’ Association (IEEMA) which helped to facilitate industry participation. The response was very positive, with several participants coming from far-flung cities in India.

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ABOUT THE IEC

The IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission) is the world’s leading organization that prepares and publishes International Standards for all electrical, electronic and related technologies. Close to 20 000 experts from industry, commerce, government, test and research labs, academia and consumer groups participate in IEC Standardization work.